Image courtesy Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission -- A truck is pulled from Lake Pontchartrain Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. The vehicle went into the lake as a result of a crash on the Causeway Monday.

Image courtesy Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission -- A truck is pulled from Lake Pontchartrain Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. The vehicle went into the lake as a result of a crash on the Causeway Monday.

The south bound span of the Causeway has reopened after being closed down to traffic at mid morning Tuesday to allow crews to recover a vehicle that plunged into Lake Pontchartrain in a late afternoon accident Monday, killing the driver.

The state Department of Transportation and Development announced the closure at 10:13 a.m. It is expected to last several hours.

The driver was identified by St. Tammany Parish Coroner Charles Preston Tuesday as 57-year-old Edward Burton of New Orleans.

The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. Monday 4 miles from the north shore when a garbage truck hit the back of an attenuator truck at the rear of a convoy installing new signs on the southbound bridge. The truck was pushed over the side of the bridge and into the water. Divers recovered the body of the driver shortly after 5 p.m.

The garbage truck then hit a police car in front of the attenuator truck, but the officer inside was able to get out.

The southbound Causeway was closed for several hours following the accident.